Mercy, Sparks CEOs Face Health Care Changes

Sunday

For the chief executives of Mercy Fort Smith and Sparks Health System, this is both a time of growth and transition into a new world of medicine.

For the chief executives of Mercy Fort Smith and Sparks Health System, this is both a time of growth and transition into a new world of medicine.

A patient at a satellite hospital in rural Arkansas or Oklahoma can be diagnosed by a physician in Fort Smith and then have robotics aid the physician in surgery. A sweeping health-care law presents new financial challenges and an expectation of more patients on top of a nationwide shortage of doctors that makes recruitment more challenging in rural areas.

On top of it all is a hardened Southern culture riddled with unhealthy habits that puts the Fort Smith area in a top spot for having the most heart attacks per capita in the nation. Both hospitals recently held Health Month events to address the need for early diagnosis of possible heart disease.

How are the local hospitals addressing other challenges? A brief question-and-answer session was conducted this week with Ryan Gehrig, president of Mercy Fort Smith, and Charles Stewart, CEO of Sparks Health System in Fort Smith and Summit Medical Center in Van Buren, to share some insight to local medical administration and the highs and lows of its changing landscape.

Affordable Care Act

Gehrig said the massive piece of legislation is still hard to dissect at this point, but "regardless of the legislation, as a hospital and an integrated care provider, Mercy is focused on improving quality and compliance, delivering more cost-effective care to the patient where they live and using technology to improve access and efficiency. Mercy believes in team-based care and believes that is the right direction for health care delivery."

Stewart said "there is a lot of anticipation and uncertainty about the Affordable Care Act," but "as a hospital system, we want to help patients navigate the new Health Insurance Marketplace."

"We can assist individuals and their families evaluate the available health plans and determine if they’re eligible for Medicaid or other insurance options," Steward adds.

Telemedicine

Before the Affordable Care Act even came along, both hospital groups were developing a revolutionary method of caring for patients in rural areas: Telemedicine.

Gehrig said several factors support the notion that telemedicine will continue to play a greater role in the care delivery model.

"People are becoming more and more comfortable with video interaction as connectivity and technology improves," Gehrig says. "So the concept of interacting with a physician or specialist located in another community or state is not as foreign or unappealing as it once was to the patient. At the same time, we are dealing with a severe shortage of providers particularly in rural areas."

Gehrig points out that current literature supports a direct correlation between the distance someone commutes for access to care and the likelihood that he or she will delay or forgo care.

"We have to find innovative ways to bring care to the patient so they remain healthy and productive, avoiding costly settings like the emergency room and hospitalization," said Gehrig. "You will continue to see new ways Mercy partners with communities and area hospitals to deliver care as close to home as possible."

For the last few years Sparks Health System has been the hub for a telemedicine program that includes 10 other hospitals in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

"We feel it’s only the beginning, and there are many other applications for telemedicine," Stewart said. "In other parts of the country, telemedicine is being used to provide cardiac studies and ultrasound interpretations, as well as psychiatric evaluations. I think we have only touched on the capabilities of how we can work with and support the rural hospitals in providing services needed in their communities."

New Technology, Facilities

Sparks has a long history of technological advances in the region, Stewart said.

"Our surgery center includes the latest in robotic equipment, which allows for minimally invasive procedures and quicker recovery times for patients," he said. "We’re also paving the way in treatments of stroke and aneurysm."

In November, Sparks’ interventional neuro-radiologists performed a groundbreaking operation using the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED), a first in the region, Stewart said. With the addition of the Varian True Beam Linear Accelerator, Sparks has added advanced treatments for cancerous tumors in patients.

Mercy also has added new technology and space dedicated to cancer detections and treatment with its new Mercy Breast Center.

In addition to having recently absorbed the former Booneville Community Hospital into its network, Mercy Fort Smith has several big construction projects in Fort Smith. The long-awaited Mercy Orthopedic Hospital on W.E. Knight Drive is on track to open in November, and two new primary care clinics are set to open later this year.

The Mercy Clinic under construction on Cliff Drive, near the intersection with Old Greenwood Road, is set to open in July. One now underway at Free Ferry and Waldron is set to open in October. Gehrig said the projects build upon a long legacy of Mercy’s ministry in Fort Smith.

"While these are exciting projects to the public, I’m equally excited about work being done to better leverage our heavy investment in information technology, which is largely unseen by the public," Gehrig added.

CarePaths, for example, helps Mercy with "early detection, diagnosis and deployment of evidence based treatment regimens for numerous disease and illnesses," including everything from sepsis to heart disease and diabetes, Gehrig said.

The new clinics and hospital are helping with the intended effect to attract highly trained physicians to the area, he said.

Osteopathic School

Recent news that the Fort Smith Regional Healthcare Foundation is committing $58 million to build the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine at Chaffee Crossing was well received.

"I believe it would be a tremendous asset for our community in many aspects if the Osteopathic School becomes a reality," Stewart said. "It would be a great economic boost for or area with the additional jobs it would bring, it would help to put Fort Smith in an even greater spotlight as a great medical community and most of all, it would result in the addition of training for new physicians, many of whom would hopefully remain in our area to practice medicine."

Stewart pointed to a physician shortage not only in Arkansas but across the country.

"We are constantly looking to fill the shortage of physicians in Fort Smith, Van Buren and our area clinics," Stewart said. "One of the key objectives for the executive team is to bring quality doctors to the area. Once we identify the candidate, it then becomes a local initiative to demonstrate both the professional and personal opportunities this area has to offer."

Two benefits of western Arkansas, Stewart said, are the lower cost of living and "it’s a great place to raise a family."

Gaining experience in treatment of serious health issues is also a certainty. Fort Smith, like much of Arkansas and other southern states, is one of the unhealthiest in the country. Poor diet and exercise, and smoking in adults has increased the chances of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

"Sometimes, it’s very difficult for a person to change their habits when it’s something that has been woven into the fabric of our southern culture," Stewart said. "But we’re here to help, whether it is with weight loss, diabetes education or smoking cessation."

Having a physician actively participate and make decisions on how to best deliver care is a common-sense approach that most health-care providers largely ignore, Gehrig says.

"We are executing a strategy that takes advantage of Fort Smith’s unique geographic advantage to serve as a medical destination community, which will have a profound economic impact for the community in direct and indirect ways," Gehrig said. "All of this will take years to accomplish; however, we are well on our way, and I am very pleased with our progress thus far."

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